One person missing is Nicole Nason, the Assistant Secretary for Administration (A), and as of last week, the person apparently also now in charge of the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO). See her one-line official bio here as “A” overseeing twelve offices and OBO (currently unlisted).

Delighted to be at the official opening of London’s new and impressive US Embassy. Attended by so many from both sides of the Atlantic who make the enduring, deep and special relationship real. @USAmbUKpic.twitter.com/aoBEfadUwC

#BREAKING: Devin Nunes says this is just the first memo to be released. He says there will be another one dealing specifically with the State Department’s role in everything that happened. pic.twitter.com/kpHVDQ44WX

The Nunes memo is dangerous, ugly, and an assault on the integrity of the institutions of our country. I lived through Watergate/Nixon: America pays a very steep price when a political party tries to undermine the institutions that hold us together –

Gowdy on Nunes saying he’s working on a second memo about the State Department. “I think what Chairman Nunes meant is there's–there's another aspect to the investigation. But if there's a second memo, I don't know about it,” he said on CBS

On January 11, U/S Goldstein told members of the press that they “should turn into that interview tomorrow” in reference to the long-form interview that turned out to be one with De Telegraaf. As of this writing, we have searched but have not been able to locate a transcript of Ambassador Hoekstra’s interview where he offered his apology. There also is no mention of this interview nor the transcript of the interview on the website of U.S. Embassy The Hague.

Reporters in the Netherlands just showed the world how to deal with Trump officials who make false claims pic.twitter.com/KJf35dh7CB

According to De Telegraaf, he thinks he had already apologized enough: "How often does a person have to say that something regrets him?" The full conversation with the diplomat appears in the newspaper on Saturday. via Google Translate

On January 11, during the State Department’s On-the-Record-Briefing with the new Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Steve Goldstein, the top official was similarly grilled by the press about the ambassador’s statements.

So for a third time now, two political ambassadors have caused more work for the building because of their public statements. The top State Department public affairs official went on to disavow Ambassador Hoekstra’s statements saying, “The State Department does not agree with those statements. That is not the language that we would use.” U/S Goldstein also told the press corps that there is now a plan for Ambassador Hoekstra to have long-form interview with a Dutch outlet on January 12. Mr. Goldstein said that Ambassador Hoesktra “also plans over the weekend to be available within many of the communities in the capital, including Muslim communities” and that the State Department has “made clear to the ambassador that – that he must move to get this behind him.”

Also FYI, the United States ambassador serve the people of the United States, and not the people of his/her host country. When junior diplomats completing their training at the Foreign Service Institute are asked where is their country, you expect them to point to their country, the United States of America, and not their country of assignment. Both Ambassador Hoekstra and U/S Goldstein appears to seek to endear themselves to the Dutch and make this controversy go away by talking about “loving” the Netherlands, and commitment to “serving the people of the Netherlands.”

Stop that, please. We can see what you’re trying to do.

If Ambassador Hoekstra is interested in putting this behind him, he should own up to his mistake and make a real apology because people watching are not dimwits. A retraction would be a good place to start. And then maybe the local press will allow him to put this behind him.

QUESTION: Ambassador Pete Hoekstra in the Netherlands had his debut for the Dutch media. It didn’t go real well. Just to start off, does the State Department agree with his earlier comments that politicians have been burned as a result of Islamist movements and that there are no-go zones in the Netherlands?

UNDER SECRETARY GOLDSTEIN: No. The State Department does not agree with those statements. That is not the language that we would use.

QUESTION: Would you like the ambassador to maybe retract those given all of the controversy it seems to be causing?

We are having a brain freeze trying to remember if anything like this ever happened before. Oh, we can’t remember anything. Just that there was no way the embassy could have avoided this incident. Had Ambassador Hoesktra offered a fuller apology after that meltdown of an interview, he would not have been facing a fiery press on his first official day as representative of the United States to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

NLtimes reported that when asked about his previous controversial comments, he announced, “I won’t comment on the matter anymore”. Apparently, he told the press that “now that he is a representative of the American administration, his personal opinions or comments are no longer what matters.” As if somehow “the matter” would simply go away. It won’t. And Dutch reporters will not stop asking just because Ambassador Hoekstra refuses to comment. And with every future event, we will get similar video clips. So we doubt very much if this is the end of it. He will get a reminder about this at his every encounter with the Dutch press.

Today Dutch press welcomed @petehoekstra as new ambassador to the Netherlands. In 2015 Hoekstra said Dutch"politicians are being burned" (not true). The only one who did get burned today is… Hoekstra himself. By refusing to answer our questions. pic.twitter.com/Dv2aalbhDP

One Dutch reporter asked @petehoekstra to look a John Adams quote on the fireplace about being “honest and wise” and if he was truly honest/wise he would take back his comments. Brutal video https://t.co/gpz7wAOTX7

The new American ambassador to the Netherlands, Peter Hoekstra, refused to comment at his inaugural press conference in Den Haag about his past allegations claiming politicians were set on fire in the Netherlands.

Last week, we blogged about Ambassador-Designate Peter Hoekstra’s double whoppers during an interview with a Dutch journalist (see New U.S. Ambassador Peter Hoekstra Makes Splash With Whoppers on Dutch TV). On December 23, the newest representative of the United States Government to the Netherlands issued a non apology-apology. It is not exactly clear what it is he is apologizing for — he “regret the exchange” but did not apologize for the remarks he made in 2015, or for lying about it? He regret participating in an interview that went off the rails on video? In any case, he did issue an apology for something, but Twitter folks were not at all happy about it.

When the US sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're bringing prejudice. They're bringing ignorance. They're idiots. And some, I assume, are good people #fakenewshttps://t.co/PDLCIkha1r

Back in 2006, the State Department determined that U.S. Embassy London needs a new building. Ground work started in 2013, and the embassy did a topping out ceremony in 2015. On December 13, 2017, US Embassy London announced that its new embassy located at the 4.9-acre site in the Nine Elms area will open to the public on January 16, 2018. It has been previously reported that the new embassy is constructed with proceeds from the sale of other U.S. government property in the United Kingdom, including the former Chancery in Grosvenor Square. Related posts below: